Escaflowne: Wings of Fate
by Showren
Summary: Hitomi and Van promised that they would see each other as long as they wished it, as long as they thought of each other. 15 years later the promise was not kept. Hitomi has returned to Gaea. A remenant of Dornkerk's sorcerors exists and has a vile plan that rivals the original Zibach empire's desire, not one for peace but for power.
1. Ch 1: Beginning

Author's note: ~any words between these~ are thoughts. Flashbacks will be [_italicized with brackets]_.

Hitomi entered the small apartment slipping off her shoes at the door and setting her work bag on the raised floor. She stepped into the house with her slippers on. Her shoulders sagged as she lugged the work bag over to a chair. "Welcome home," her mother greeted her with a hopeful smile.

Hitomi looked up with tired eyes, "how is he?" she asked with a sigh.

"The fever hasn't broke yet, but he's resting," her mother replied with her gaze on the floor. Hitomi nodded.

"Thank you for checking on him," she let go a ragged sigh. She turned and looked toward a bedroom door, "if he still runs a temperature tomorrow, I'll make a doctor's appointment…" Doctor's bills could be expensive; she dreaded the idea of it. How was he supposed to get better, if they could barely stay afloat? Her lips pursed.

"Hitomi…" her mother stood, watching her. "If you need help…" there was a pleading in her mother's voice.

"No," Hitomi said firmly and opened her mouth to say more.

"You know I believed you," she interrupted. "When you disappeared I told your friends' where you'd gone…"

"Why didn't you stand up for me then?" Hitomi's voice was barely above a whisper.

Her mother's lips quivered, "I never expected… your grandmother she wasn't ever as long as you… who would have believed it? Or worse if they had and wanted to take Yuen from you?" she stuttered.

"I wouldn't have let them," she snapped in a hushed tone fully aware of the sleeping boy in the next room. "Its not the same and you… " her shoulders stiffened, "could have said something… done something… I was humiliated and alone…"

"Hitomi…" her mother sighed.

Hitomi shook her head, "no… no its alright… I just… its been a long week already…" her mother nodded. "Thank you for taking care of him…" her mother hugged her and left. After the door shut, she continued into the bedroom. She opened the door slowly to the cramped room.

A fifteen year old stirred on the bed near a desk as she stepped inside. His black hair stuck to his face and his body trembled. His eyes shut tightly for a moment as he took several heavy breathes as he rolled over. Hitomi's spine went cold. Her hands flew to her chest as a memory past through her vision.

_[Van laid on a creaking bed with his limbs crudely strapped as the airship moved through the sky. His entire body was bandaged including half of his face. His eyes shut tightly before he cried out and men rushed to hold him down as he struggled unable to get full breathes of air as he screamed. His body rapidly healed itself internally while Escaflowne, his almost organic suit of robotic armor was physically repaired._

_Hitomi remembered standing outside the room covering her ears unable to get away from his intense pain and being in the room when he had gotten way from them. When Van had spread his white angel-like wings unwilling to give up the battle and stained the feathers red before collapsing once more…]_

Hitomi choked at the memory. She took several deep breathes to gather herself and slowly lowered her hands. ~Its only a memory… it happened a long time ago~ She thought with her eyes watering.

"Mom…?" Yuen's voice was thick with sleep and fever. Hitomi brushed back a few damp locks of hair.

"Hey there," she smiled, "how are you feeling?" Green eyes looked back at her, one of the few features that didn't belong to….

Van stared upward at the great white machine called Escaflowne. He put a hand on the shining surface of the guymelef's shin. Then his forehead against the cool surface and breathed. ~Fifteen years…~ since the rebuilding began, since he had become the king of a fragmented nation. His hand went to the pendent about his neck. He pictured Hitomi, her short sandy hair and green eyes and nothing… he saw nothing. ~Come on almost fourteen years, let it go~ he told himself. A small voice whispered ~she's not coming back and she doesn't gone…~ It was always on this day. The day that everything had ended and the anniversary of the day he'd sent her home.

The first few months after she'd returned to the mystic moon, had been just as they'd promised each other. Every time he thought of her, it was like being physically there. Then it began to dim and he saw her less and less. Until he only felt glimmers of her emotions. Then in a heartbreaking act, he'd felt her pull away with a pain he couldn't identify.

"My lord?" He stepped away from Escaflowne. A woman with cat features kneeled before him with her tail twitching.

"What is it Merle?" he sighed.

Merle hesitated, "I'm sorry to bring this to you now…" she said quietly, "there's been more rumors of strange things happening in the forest." She cringed knowing that her king, her friend was hurting.

Van cursed, "the patrols still haven't found anything?"

"No…" she whispered.  
Van turned away from her balling his fists ~brother give me strength.~

"Lord Van…" Merle glanced up at him, using a long ago used term of endearment.

"Stand… please speak freely," his position as king and their still stabilizing country often forced the two of them to put protocol first and childhood intimacy aside.

"…" Merle's lips drew back and tears welled, "its her isn't it?" she whispered. "She left us and she's not coming back. Your country feels your pain… we all do," she reached her hand out to brush his, "its time to move on, if not for you… then for Fanelia…"

Van's teeth clenched. The same speech said so many different ways all singing the same painful note 'move on'. Had Gaea already forgotten what save them was Hitomi's love, their love?

He growled and Merle recoiled to a kneel, "merle…" his face softened and he put a hand to his face, "I'm sorry…" He put his hands out and rose her to her feet, "I'll try… I promise… I'll try…" he placed the pendent beneath the dark blue of his tunic.

Outside of Fanelia, beyond the forest on the road Austeria, a series of trees bent and shook with an odd shimmer in the moonlight. A figure appeared standing in midair until the cloaking device went down for a moment revealing the Zaibach guymelef. The figure stood the arm of the robot.

"So the rumors are true. The white dragon still sleeps," he murmured, drawing his cloak around him. "Draven! Its time to move on," he called to the pilot inside. The man with long dark hair sat in the cockpit, dual colored eyes staring blankly with a large dark collar around his neck. His reply was the whirring of the guymelef and the camouflage returning as it took to the air.

The cloaked man muttered something intelligible under his breath, a pink crystal at his throat took on a glow for a few moments.

At that same moment, Van stood changing his clothes for a meeting with his advisors and the townsmen. Hitomi's pendent began to glow and pulse. In a panic he grasped the pendent and snapped his eyes shut, "Hitomi," he called softly. The pulse stopped, the crystal dimmed with no response.

"Hitomi…" Van's voice plain as day in the room.

"Van…?" she whispered, unconsciously. Yuen was asleep again at her side, his fever worse than before. She shook her head and put a hand on Yuen's forehead. ~What was I thinking?~ she chuckled weakly. ~I can't hear him anymore…~.


	2. Ch2: Gaea

Author's note: Please forgive the typo in Ch.1, its spelled Asturia not Austeria.

Hitomi sat with her hands clenching her pant legs tightly. Van's phantom voice seemed to echo in her mind for several moments. It had felt so clear. She stood, wiping her hands on her thighs.

"Yuen?" she said softly. He rolled over and looked back at her, sleepily, "I'll go pick you up some hot soup alright?" he nodded. There was a market across the street, it was a lifesaver at times like this. Hitomi took a deep breath as she left the room. She had little desire to cook tonight, the endeavor was always frustrating and tonight she couldn't handle the silence of the little apartment. She slipped her shoes back on and tripped on Yuen's track bag.

She growled picking up the bag and zipped it back up. The contents being: a change of clothes, his track shoes (his track suit itself in the wash), his mp3 player, cellphone and miscellaneous things. She gripped the handle ~if I've told him once…~ she started to slip one shoe back off when her hair slowly began to stand on end. Something was wrong…

Some part of the feeling was familiar, she stepped up on to the main floor with her shoes still on. The apartment began to take on a blue hue. The focus on Yuen's bedroom, ~No~ she thought frantically running into the room. "No… no no no…" Yuen was sprawled on the floor by his bed.

He looked to Hitomi, "What happening?" The light became its densest and Yuen's sweatshirt began to billow and float. Hitomi dove for him as he began to lift into the air. Yuen looked down at her with eyes wide. She wrapped her arms around him.

"Hold on and don't let go!" she commanded. He did as he was told, closing his eyes as they were lifted into the air.

When they opened their eyes again, they were in the open night air. Hitomi looked at Yuen his eyes shining in the moonlight as he stared in awe. Hitomi followed his gaze upward. She heard the grass move in the breeze, felt the damp earth beneath. It was real. In the sky the full moon shone with their very own Earth hanging like its colored twin.

"Gaea…" Hitomi said breathlessly, letting go of her son. Yuen's track bag fell from her shoulder to her elbow.

_[Covered in the slime of the large beast, Van had flaunted a princely manner while holding the crystalized heart of the dragon, the dragenergist. Hitomi had not known the name of it then. She had been shocked and frightened. The crudely round crystal had begun to glow and blue light surrounded them. She had reached for her friends in vain. An upper classman, Amano, had reached for her as her grandmother's amulet slipped into her hand and she taken away in a flash of light._

_She awoke with Van standing near her. He called the new world, "Gaea" where the Earth hung in the sky with the moon. Everything had been dark and shadows then. ]_

Tears fell unbidden and her shoulders shook. ~Everything, it took everything I had to believe that this place was really gone…~ she thought through heaving sobs. Her hands gripped the soil.

Yuen looked back to his mother, finding her crying beside him. Confusion and worry crossed his face. He put his arms around her. ~Where are we?~ he wondered ~am I dreaming?~

He didn't have long to contemplate as the pounding sound of horses drew near. "Mom, something's coming," he stood up, trying to coax her to her feet. Hitomi wiped her eyes.

"I'm sorry," She stood up. Her eyes widened as white horse-like beasts came into view. They looked almost exactly like horse save for their splayed toes on their feet. Knights in armor began to surround them. She didn't recognize them, she gripped Yuen's arm. She looked at him concerned, still able to feel the boy's fever.

"Who are you?" one of the men with a dark beard growled.

Hitomi gathered her courage, "Where are we?" she asked. She looked over their armor and the red blankets on their horses, "Are you from Asturia?" she continued.

"Answer our question," the man threatened.

"My name is Hitomi…" she started.

"Hitomi?" Someone behind the group, dismounted. The men stepped aside and let him forward. He wore half-plate with a dark blue tunic beneath. He removed his helmet, revealing long blonde hair pulled back with a bit of leather cord. "Hitomi is that really you…?"

"Allen…" Hitomi's breath left her with relief. She smiled at the older man, his face thinner and more defined than the last time she had seen him.

"Sir, you know this strange woman?" the man next to him grunted.

"Relax Gerard," Allen walked up to Hitomi with a soft smile. "Its been a long time," he his hands around to her. She grasped them for a moment. Allen looked over at the bare foot boy in grey clothes next to her. "Who is this…?"

Hitomi felt bashful in his presence all of a sudden. She looked at Yuen. His eyes wide as looked between her and Allen. "This… this is my son, Yuen" she forced a smile and then looked at him and gasped. She dug into the bag at her shoulder, "your shoes!" Yuen sighed with a roll of his eyes. Allen laughed.

"Anyone care to explain what's going on?" he asked with his hands on his hips, before taking hold of his socks and shoes as Hitomi handed them to him.

A faint recognition past through Allen's eyes, the way Yuen had stood, reminded of him of someone, but at the moment he couldn't put his finger on who. As it dawned on him the meaning of Hitomi's words, he lost the thought. "Your son…?" Hitomi nodded, smiling at the boy. He blinked, silent for several minutes.

"I would like to get him somewhere warm if I could," Hitomi had returned to mother mode. She laid a hand on Yuen's forehead and one on her own. "You still have a fever…." She mumbled.

"I'm alright…" the boy returned in a disgruntled mutter. It was a touching moment, Allen taking it in. He sighed through his nose, before turning to his men.

"She's a friend," he explained, "go on without me and then back to Palas. I will take them into town myself…" the men nodded and were off in moments.

"Thank you…" Hitomi couldn't help it, Allen was the same chivalrous man he had been years before. Yuen leaned against her. She glanced at him, "come on, let's go…" she urged.

Allen walked his horse, "If he's ill…" he offered, touching the saddle of the horse.

"I'm fine…" Yuen insisted.

~Stubborn aren't we….?~ Allen thought with a frown.

"What is all this? Is it real?" Yuen looked around.

"It is…" Hitomi answered. "Its all real, that's home," she pointed to Earth in the sky. Yuen looked up and gave a heavy sigh. "I have been here before…" she told him.

"Why didn't you ever talk about it?" the question had simplicity in tone as if Yuen expected an easy answer.

Hitomi dreaded it, "I… didn't think I would ever see it again…" her eyes turned to the ground. There had always been a fear. It was a deep rooted nightmare in which Yuen was taken from her in a flash of blue light, a dream in which she ran from her room into his only to find an empty bed. As if Gaea called him back and left her behind. Her lips drew tightly closed and Yuen dropped the question, looking away.


	3. Ch 3: Old Friends

The night air was still around them save for an occasional breeze through the tall grass once they reached the road. Allen walked his horse, refusing to ride while Hitomi and her son walked, but also unable to convince either of them to ride. He sighed. The two had been silent for some time.

Yuen rubbed one shoulder casually, both of them feeling unusually stiff. He glanced at his mother, her eyes downcast. He gave Allen a sideways glance as well as the beast he called a horse. He was waiting for the moment he woke up in his own bed, to find the whole situation a strange dream. ~You know this place… you know this place…~ some tiny part of him whispered.

"Do you know what brought you back…?" Allen asked softly. It had dawned on him as they traveled that she no longer had her pendent, so how and why after all this time did she return to Gaea.

Hitomi shook her head though her eyes glanced at Yuen, "I don't know…" she whispered. "I wish I did…"  
She stopped short behind Yuen. "Yuen, what…" he turned his head as if watching something in the forest to their left.

A feeling washed over Yuen, something was in the woods. Something was watching them. He had looked over and sworn there had been a moving shadow. "There's something there," he whispered. His shoulder blades began to ache.

Allen looked over Yuen's head and saw something shine. His eyes widened, "everyone get down!"

A thin rounded spike flung their way. Allen pushed to the two earth natives to the dirt of the road. His white impaled and flung away with the shake of a large metal arm that came to view. A black guymelef came into view hovering off the ground.

"Zaibach!" Hitomi screamed, her hands moved from her head and reached for Yuen.

Allen cursed under his breath, ~Where did that come from?~ He crouched and turned to the green eyed boy. "Grab Hitomi and go toward the city," he pointed down the hill. "Tell them Allen Schezar sent you, hurry," Yuen scrambled, grabbing his mother by the shirt sleeve and pulled her to her feet.

"We have to go," he told her in panic ~what is that thing? What is it?!~ his mind screamed. He slid down the hill, having to catch his balance as Hitomi stumbled.

Allen glanced at his fallen mount, "tch," he turned with a glare at the mech. "Hey over here!" his blonde ponytail whipped of his shoulder as he drew his sword. If only he had Scherazade, then this enemy would have gone before a second thought. His blade seemed insignificant compared to the ghost guymelef of a dead empire.

The ground shook beneath the knight's feet as the mech stalked toward him. He could see a cloaked figure atop his right shoulder now. ~A zaibach sorcerer, still alive?!~ Not only that, but it held a soft glowing pendent. The figure pointed down the hill. The guymelef turned from Allen.

"Hey, Hey… no you don't" he raced toward the thing, attacking the machinery within reach.

It strode forward ignoring the damage, "what we seek is close Draven," the sorcerer whispered. He spied the woman and boy in strange clothing.

_[A flash of a girl in an odd uniform with matching colored hair to the woman at the bottom of the hill. Her hair had been shorter then. She had called for the white dragon and it came, leaving zaibach's destruction in its wake. Emperor Dornkirk's fate machine gone… along with all their plans._ ] The sorcerer face contorted into a snarl. It was her from the mystic moon returned.

"Grab her!" he called, stomping his foot on the machine. A loud clicking was heard as the pikes of the arm, became a clawed hand. Yuen turned back with his eyes wide. The arm was coming toward them. Yuen yanked Hitomi sharply to one side causing her to stumble once again. Not as agile as she once was Hitomi panted as she pulled again. "Little brat…" the sorcerer flung an arm sideways, "knock him out of the way."

The arm moved as if connected to the sorceror's movements. The pendent gleamed brightly as the arm came toward the boy. Draven breathed in heaving gasps in the cockpit, the veins in his neck beneath the collar, strained. His blue and violet eyes came out of their stupor and he saw the boy before him. His muscles pressured as he forced them to pull back from a killing blow ~stop stop stop…~ his mind raced.

"Draven? What are you doing," the sorcerer hissed and clenched his fist. The collar squeezed and a green light shined on Draven's face. He clenched his teeth as his arm moved of their own accord and he claws grazed the dark haired boy on the ground and knocked him aside. Draven bit his lip, blood flowed down his chin. He was going to regret this later, the monster of man outside the guymelef would see to that. He turned the guymelef and fled. "Draven turn this around!" the glow paled and went out in the pendent. ~That boy…~ was Draven's last coherent thought.

Hitomi screamed and was at Yuen's side in moments. She put her hands on his arm. "Wait, don't move him just yet!" Allen bruised and scraped but no worse for wear while trying to stop the melef, strode over to them. He kneeled down and found the boy breathing.

"He's alive and very lucky," ~there was an argument with the pilot, second thoughts?~ he had never known a Zaibach soldier to have second thoughts about anything, much less killing a stranger. Yuen torso was exposed and bleeding with large shallow scrapes. Allen picked him up carefully. "We're not far…" Hitomi held onto Yuen's hand as they approached the city gate.

"Lord Schezar…" the young guard observed the wounded young man and the strange woman.

"Out of the way, this boy needs help and have the knights gathered immediately," the guard gave a clumsy salute and ran off, leaving his partner behind.

They avoided the city square and were close to reaching the small barracks where the knights slept when a woman in a white dress ran toward them. Her long blond hair fell in waves, she held her skirt in both hands.

"The gate and square are bustle with activity, someone claims they saw a guymelef outside the city… I heard across town… what has…." She stopped. The woman looked between Allen, the wounded boy and Hitomi. She blinked, "… … "

Hitomi couldn't bring herself to smile, "hello Millerna."

"Hitomi… I… " Her brow furrowed and she looked at Allen.

"He's injured," Allen thanked whatever higher powers that existed that they had run into the noble woman. "We could use your help and I can fill you in on the way." Millerna nodded.

"Come with me," she waved them for them to follow. "My home isn't far…" She gave a glance back at Hitomi as they hurried along. Hitomi's entire attention was on the dark haired boy in Allen's arms. She held his hand, rubbing it with worry.


	4. Ch 4: Supsicious Happenings

(Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait, Midterms were killer these past two weeks. Feel free in reviews to try and guess what's going to happen, characters you like (like what do you guys think of Draven?)... characters you think are different (even in a bad way... like you think are too different from the series) ... thanks for all the reviews so far 3 I love hearing from you!)

The home was near the capital square with a small gate around the outside and two guards. Millerna crossed the cobblestone road, skirt in hand and spoke in hushed tones to the guards. After a few moments, she looked either way down the road and motioned to the small party to cross.

The guards opened the gate, "come on, hurry," Allen stalked past her with Yuen and Hitomi stepped quickly behind. Hitomi stayed close, where she could keep Yuen in view. Millerna through open the front door with all the demanding of the house's lady.

A maid met her at the bottom of the stairs, "Milady, there's talk of a guymelef stopped outside the city…. They're sending out guards to gather any suspicious…," she looked over at the bleeding boy and the strangely dressed woman, "… persons…."

"Laurine, get a bed upstairs ready… and I need medical supplies put on the side table," she waved her hand not giving the small maid any room to panic or argue, "now…" The maid turned on her heels and fled with whispers to a few other servants. Millerna sighed with and on her hip.

She walked over to the dark haired boy and slowly pulled the bits of torn grey fabric back. "The cuts aren't deep , but this much exposed flesh isn't good," Yuen's breathing was heavy and uneven. Millerna touched his forehead and her eyebrows furrowed, "a fever… ?"

"That was from before," Hitomi interrupted in a hushed tone.

"Let's get him upstairs…" Millerna started up the stairs. Allen's face held a concentrated expression. Millerna glanced back down at them unable to discern Allen's thoughts and noticing the blatant worry on Hitomi's face for the young boy.

Allen laid Yuen slowly down on the bed and Millerna took her bag from Laurine with a heavy sigh. The was about as large as Hitomi's small apartment on Earth (without the bedrooms). It was furnished an almost Victorian style with a large wardrobe and a large round red floor rug. "… Hitomi…" Hitomi's attention returned to the matter at hand, "you can go sit down if you like. This isn't serious, I can take it from here…" the princess gave an encouraging smile.

"But…" she started to protest, but felt hands on her shoulders.

"Come on Hitomi," Allen gently led her out of the room and back downstairs. He led her to a parlor and offered for her to sit. "I can't imagine how this must be for you… " he said quietly standing with his arms crossed. A wave of exhaustion fell over Hitomi once she was sitting.

"Are there really still Zaibach soldiers still around?" she looked up at the knight.

Allen frowned, "realistically? Yes, there could still be men who fought under Zaibach's banner still living, would they still have resources, much less guymelefs? No. It would be a death sentence to seen with one in anything sort of pieces," he explained. A hand went to his chin, "what bothers me more is the man in the cloak… most of the sorcerer's left after the way were arrested… " his voice lowered, "most killed themselves rather than face possible interrogation…." He sighed, "and then there's the guymelef pilot, he could have killed you and your son right there, but held back. Why?"

Hitomi gripped the thighs of her pants and shook her head slowly. "Why are they after us anyway? I no longer have… " her hand when to her bare throat and her eyes widened. "He had a pendent!" She got to her feet, "Van, you don't think…." She began to panic.

Allen shook his head, "I doubt it, there's been a lot of attention on Fanelia and its rebuilding. Its still a fragile country, we would have undoubtedly heard if something had happened to her king." He offered for her to return to her seat. Hitomi nodded and sat down and put her hands to her face.

"Prepare this for he wakes," Millerna was speaking with two servants outside the room. Hitomi looked up as she entered. "He should be fine, though the fever worries me a little bit…" the princess admitted. She looked between Allen and Hitomi, "so… do you want to clue me in or do I have to guess?"

Allen and Hitomi looked to Millerna and between themselves ~Where do we start?~ Hitomi wondered.

"I have an injured boy in my upstairs room, Hitomi has comeback and the city is a flurry of rumors of guymelefs and monsters at our doorstep," Millerna started for them impatient.

"There was a Zaibach guymelef and a sorcerer that attacked us and injured the boy…" Allen stated in a knightly manner.

"Zaibach?" Millerna looked genuinely surprised, "a Zaibach guymelef outside Palas?!" she put a hand to her mouth, "and a sorcerer? Are you sure? We'll need to tell my father…"

"Is Dryden here? Has he seen anything strange?" Allen offered.

Millerna sighed, "not yet, he's supposed to arrive in a few days… I haven't heard much, other than to stay in the city…" she had found it odd that her husband had warned more than once in his letters to stay put.

"I'm meeting with the knights as soon as I leave here…" Allen started.

"Let me go with you, whenever you decide to go to the palace," she offered, "you may need the support when it comes to my father. We might need to wait until Dryden returns if we can," Allen nodded. "But why did they attack you? They couldn't have known that you'd return… and even if they did why attack you now?" her attention turned to Hitomi.

"I don't know," Hitomi shook her head. She didn't want to believe that it could have anything to do with Yuen ~no one knows about him but me…~ she thought.

Then as if Millerna read her mind, "… and the boy?"

"My son… he came with me," Hitomi answered, knowing that it was the entire truth. Yuen was the one Gaea had called, she had only come along for the ride.

A thoughtful expression passed over Millerna's face, "it 'has' been a long time…" she murmured.

Hitomi opened her mouth to speak when there was the sound of table rocking. All of them turned to look at the doorway to the parlor. Minutes passed in silence until a young girl entered. She was in a light blue nightdress and long wavy dark hair.

"Mother? Lord Schezar? I heard you put someone in the guest room… what's happening?" the girl looked at the group with wide blue eyes.

"Go back to bed Marlene…" Millerna scolded.

"There are lights in the square and soldiers along the roads…" Marlene added. The sound of knocking came at the front door. Millerna rolled her eyes.

"Hitomi, go upstairs and hurry," Hitomi nodded, "and Marlene back… to … bed this instant," she said harshly. "Allen, I could use your help," she looked to the knight. He nodded.

Millerna straightened her dress before opening the front door, sure enough soldiers stood at her doorstep, "how may I help you at this hour?" she didn't keep the disdain from her voice.

"We apologize Princess… but there were some strange sightings outside of town and rumors of a battle. If you have heard anything…" the soldier started.

"… I will surely tell you…" she interrupted raising her eyebrows, "its late and you have accosted my house enough by not waiting by the gate," she added.

"Lady please we only have your safety in mind…" the soldier started again.

"She is perfectly safe lieutenant," Allen crossed his arms. "I came to check on her and her family when I heard the rumors…"

"Allen S..sc…schezar! Of course sir!" the soldier gave a clumsy salute and within moments the men were gone.

"This isn't good," Allen looked to Millerna. "Normally there wouldn't be search parties for based on a guymelef sighting and a few rumors… Any ideas?"

Millerna stood with one arm crossed over her torso and the other hand near her mouth, "my only guess is that more than one person knows that Hitomi has come back, but why she would matter to anyone other than these Zaibach men you saw… I can't say…" she shook her head frustrated.

Hitomi moved a chair to sit near Yuen. He shifted beneath the blanket and winced. She grasped his hand and gave it a loving squeeze. ~Please just look at me … I know its selfish… but I need to know you're okay…~she thought. Yuen looked up at her, his eyelids dropped with sleep, "where are we now?" his voice was a dry whisper.

"Safe, it's alright," she smiled. "Go back to sleep…" his eyebrows furrowed and his face looked unsure, "I'll be here," she promised. Then Yuen closed his eyes.

His head swam and his body ached. A fog ebbed at his thoughts. Yuen's sleep was plagued with dreams. _A castle tower burns above him and debris falls, the scene slips from the tower to a pair of shadowy figures sharing a kiss admist white feathers, the scene slips again with dizzying speed and Yuen feels the sensation of falling. An angel is falling, an angel with one blue and one green eye… there is a crash as the being hits the dark ground, the falling feathers catch flame and the dream dissolves with the image of the black Zaibach guymelef chained with blood flowing from the head piece._

Allen stood in the parlor with his men, explaining the situation in hushed tones, "mystic moon has always been a bad omen…" Gerard sniffed gruffly with his arms crossed.

"She and the King of Fanelia very well saved us all," another member of the knights snapped, "you know the stories…"

"Are you sure that's not all they are?" Gerard raised his eyebrows.

"I was there," Allen said in a quiet, dangerous tone.  
_[Armies that had been allies, friends and comrades standing on a bloodied and torn battlefield united against a common enemy then ready to turn on each other. Scherazade and Escaflowne stood across from each other, still tense with battle fury. He remembered his blood boiling, but his mind clouded not even completely sure why he continued to battle with the young prince. Their swords clashed again. Then Selena had called out his name… and Van's blade threatened to coming crashing down. …There was no killing blow…_

Hitomi had stopped it… She called Van from his battle stupor. She called the symbol of the white dragon to fight against a man-made fate. They became the symbol of peace that ended the long nightmare.]

"We would be flying Zaibach's flag without them," he said with his lips drawn in a grim line. The group stopped arguing. Several minutes of silence followed… Allen looked all of them in the eye. Gerard shifted uncomfortably along with one or two of the others.

"Until I speak with the king, nothing we've said will leave this room," he looked over them, "am I clear?" the hilt of his sword rattled at his side. Some of the group nodded.

"Yes sir!" came the group consensus.

"I will speak with the King this evening, in the meantime see what you can find out in the city about these rumors," he added. The group filed out of the Fassa parlor, leaving Allen in the doorway. He stopped the younger knight who had spoken in Hitomi's defense, "Morgenes… " the dark haired knight looked up at him.

"Sir?" he said quietly.

"I need you to take this message to the ship The Crusade and make sure it only reaches its Captain," he produced a envelope from his belt. The young knight nodded taking the note and placing inside a small pouch at his belt.


End file.
